Delightful Malaysian Food at Ho Jiak

Malaysian food has been on my mind lately, and not the kind I make myself, but the food from Ho Jiak instead.

During these trying times, dinning out or interstate travel has not been an option, but with restrictions easing a little and restaurants opening their doors to a few number of patrons at a time, I find myself reminiscing my experience at one of Sydney’s best Malaysian restaurants.

The weekend in Sydney involved a lot of walking and by the time we sat down to dine, we were parched. Our drink orders were no surprise, we ordered typical ‘kopitiam’ drinks – iced milo, iced teh tarik and a bright pink bandung.

To whet our appetites and begin our food journey through the island state of Penang, we ordered ‘Kiam Ah Nui Kay’ which is stir fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk, butter and curry leaves. When it arrived on the table, the aroma that hit us made us salivate. It was hard to hold back to even take a picture of it. But alas, I knew I had to so I could share this moment with you. Just so you know how good this was, I could have had this all to myself if I didn’t have to share that night and even would have licked the plate if no one was watching.

For mains, we had Nasi Goreng Pattaya style where the rice is wrapped up inside a domed omelette, a plate of steamed pork with ginger that doesn’t seem to be on their current menu (so keep an eye for this if it emerges again, cause it’s fabulous), Kangkung Belachan – wok fried morning glory with shrimp paste and chilli and the most controversial dish of that particular period – the Crispy Chicken Rendang!

If I had an extra stomach, I would have definitely ordered the Choay Tau Eu (steamed fish with soy sauce, cured mushrooms and shallots), the Tau Eu Bak (braised slow cooked pork belly in dark soy sauce) and the Nasi Goreng Lembu (that’s lamb fried rice)!

I’ve been very picky and fussy about how I rate Malaysian food outside of it’s home country and this was the first restaurant in Sydney where all I could utter was “OMG, wow, gosh how delicious, just so authentic…”, you catch my drift.

So if you’re planning on visiting family in Sydney this weekend, maybe try booking a table at Ho Jiak for a delightful Malaysian food journey. Tag us on your Instagram posts @TravelnBeyond so we can vicariously live through you!

Ho Jiak is located at three locations, but I recommend the one at 92 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000.

Rose

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